I've been hearing great things about the Milani Baked blush range for years, Youtubers and beauty bloggers alike have been more than forthcoming with their thoughts on this line of blushes, and it's always been really positive (and borderline cult status). Many claim these are great alternatives for MAC Mineralized blushes, which is great, especially if you're on a budget, or if MAC Cosmetics aren't easily accessible where you live. I finally broke down, and picked up a bunch of various shades at my local CVS, while they were on a BOGO sale, no less. I've had them, and have been wearing them exclusively for a month, and I'm finally ready to let you guys know what I think!Here's a swatch of the five colors I picked up: Bella Rosa (matte), Delizioso Pink (matte), Berry Amore (shimmer), Rose D'Oro (shimmer), and Corallina (shimmer). These are full-blown swatches, so you can see how beautiful the pigmentation is!

B E L L A R O S A

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Bella Rosa ia a gorgeous, matte, rose color. This is one of two shades from their new matte line, and I have to say, in the pan, it looks quite a bit intimidating. Applying this without looking like a clown will require a light hand—even on my darker skintone, it's really easy to grab too much, and risk looking too done up, if I'm not careful. That being said, it does blend really beautifully, and can give your cheeks the best rosy glow. I actually don't own a rose-red blush, so this was a great addition to my collection. (I used a lot in this shot, when I apply it like I regularly do, it's too sheer for the camera to pick up.)

D E L I Z I O S O P I N K

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Delizioso Pink is a lovely cool-toned, baby pink. Again, the pan makes this color look super intimidating to wear, but it's not. Normally, for my skintone, pinks can go either way: if they are pigmented enough, they work out great, but if they only look pigmented, and don't really deliver, I can look ashy in an instant. I'm somewhere on the fence with this color. It doesn't make me look ashy, thankfully, but it is really subtle (when I don't dump a lot on, like I did in this picture). As a blush on it's own, I'm not sure how I feel about it—I could take it, or leave it. When I layer a highlighter under it, it definitely helps to add more dimension, which at least makes it usuable for me. I definitely wish that the shade of pink in the pan, was the same shade as when it goes on the skin. Still, for someone of a different complexion, this color might work really well on you. It blends wonderfully, and is totally matte, without the chalkiness. Definitely a good buy for someone else!

B E R R Y A M O R E

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Berry Amore is a cool berry-gold color. It has really finely-milled gold shimmer particles which create a really lovely glow on the skin. Much like Delizioso Pink, Berry Amore is very subtle on my skintone, however, because it is shimmery, it does actually work really well as a highlight color, rendering it not completely useless. Actually, I really like this as a standalone blush, it does give my skin a radiant/flushed appearance, that works well on days where I'm going for a no-makeup-makeup look. Like the previous blushes, it has a very silky texture, and blends evenly. It can be built up, in order to achieve a better color payoff, however, it is a really soft, delicate color overall.

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R O S E D ' O R O

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Rose D'Oro, is a warm rose-gold color. On my complexion, it looks almost orange at times. There is a mix of fine and large shimmer particles, which make for a significantly highlighted/glowy appearance. If you're someone who's not a fan of glitter on their cheeks, this many not be the blush for you. For me, I do find, that even though the particles can be a bit large upon application, they somehow blend away, or become less noticeable somehow (magic?); either way, I think because it contains gold particles, it compliments my skintone quite well. This is another blush that requires a slight hand though, it is really easy to get too much on your brush, so start of light, and build it up as you need to.

C O R A L L I N A

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Corallina is a coral-orange shade with silver glitter. This was actually the very first blush I picked up (before I went back and ravaged the rest of the Milani display), and upon first application I was both extremely impressed, and a little baffled by it. I was impressed, first and foremost, with the color payoff. The coral on my skintone was amazing, even though it can sometimes read pink, depending on the lighting. The only thing that threw me off was the insane amount of glitter, and the size of the glitter. In the swatch on my arm, at the top, you can see a bit better what I mean. I'm not sure why they went with a silver glitter, with such a warm color as the base. So, again, if you aren't a huge fan of glitter, this might not be your blush. I do still like to use it, because it does look really pretty, and warm, and makes my cheeks look very luminous. Despite that concern, I was just really blown away by the quality of the product, and was instantly ready to buy more.

L A S T T H O U G H T S

On the whole, I am a huge fan of these Milani Baked Blushes. As far as drugstore cosmetics go, this range is extremely well done, and they have an impressive quality to them. These blushes can easily work with a variety of skintones, depending on how you want to wear them (as a blush, or as a highlighter), and that is due to their awesome pigmentation. Another huge pro for me is that they are extremely long-lasting. North Carolina has been consistently warm since I've been here, putting all of my make through the wringer. These not only pass the test, but, I feel like the more they sink into my skin, the better and more natural they look! Eight hours of wear is pretty amazing, for an $8 blush, I will say.

I tried out five of eleven shades they have to offer, and only one didn't truly meet my expectations in terms of color, Delizioso Pink, if it were as hot pink on my face as it looks in the pan, it would've been so much better for me. That being said, even though it's not what I expected, I can still use it, and it's still great quality. These blushes are smooth, and ultra-pigmented, a little will most certainly go a long way. I'm not sure is these truly replace MAC Mineralized blushes, on the grounds that the MAC blushes use very finely milled shimmer, that's the biggest difference for me. That being said, for an inexpensive option, these are great!

I love the luxe gold packaging, too; on display, and on my makeup table it looks so much more expensive than it is, but, it doesn't feel as sturdy as packaging on my other compact blushes. You can feel the pan wiggling inside if you shake it gently, and that's because, underneath of the blush, the compact opens once more to reveal a mirror (useful!) and a small brush (not so much!). It does shut tight, which is really the most important thing, but, I had to mention how it wiggled a bit, because that threw me off when I first bought one (I thought I had broken it or something)!

I think these would make a great addition to anyone's makeup collection, these blushes are wonderful for creating beautiful, radiant skin, and they are affordable! Who doesn't want to look beautiful, without breaking the bank?

You can find these blushes at CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart. Of course, you can also find them cheaper online, at places like Amazon.com, or directly from the Milani website.